


The first witness

by Weebtabix



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-27
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-07 09:34:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12838365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Weebtabix/pseuds/Weebtabix
Summary: Shuichi Saihara, a detective in training. Held up by his teacher one day, he finds himself having to rush to Uncle's agency for training to get there on time lest he feel the wrath of his Uncle and his never-ending lectures. With no time to waste, Shuichi takes a shortcut through a shady alley...





	1. A deadly encounter

“Damn it” I say under my breath.

My eyes are fixated on the clock. 3:40 it shows and I was meant to leave by 3:30 but the teacher is droning on and on and I just want it to end! I’m going be late for Uncle’s job and he’s is definitely lecture me on this. A detective would never be late to the crime scene! I start to recall the traumatic events of his previous wearisome lectures. I shake my head to get those past memories out. My legs are slightly bouncing up and down, their raring to run as soon as the teacher gives the signal. 

“Alright, you may go now” my teacher says and with that I jump up from my chair, sling my bag over my shoulder and loosely wrap my scarf around my neck while also throwing my cap on and rushing out of the classroom like a rocket.

“No running in the hallways!” My teacher’s voice echoes through the hallway 

“Sorry!” I apologise while still in full sprint but I have no intention of stopping for no one or no thing; you couldn’t pay me to stop, nothing can be done to stop me. That’s how determined I was to get to my Uncle’s agency on time. Running down the stairs while almost tripping twice and then dodging countless amounts of students, I finally make to the entrance. I bolt out the entrance doors but I am met with my deadliest enemy. Winter and its glacial grasp on Japan. I can already feel my body becoming frigid as the chilly wind hits me. But I can’t stop here, I must push on with all my might! Continuing with my sprint I can see the sun already starting to set and fall behind the city for the moon to take its place. This casts a beautiful silhouette over the city, I would love to just stop and drink the view but I can’t.

Resuming my run, I reach a junction but there are cars racing down the road with no intention to stopping. Angered and panicked a little, I look around to see if there are any other routes for me to take but there are none. My only choice to run across the street and hope no runs me over. I determine my resolve, my only choice to run across and so I do. I run on to the road out to be given a heart attack by screeching tires and brakes and deafening honk. I turn to my right to see the driver of a small sedan face me with a piercing glare. Still shocked from before and intimidated by the driver, I give a slight bow before rushing off again, my heart still racing.

Running a bit further, my pace starts to slow down and eventually grinds to a halt, leaving me my hands on my knees, wheezing for air. I’ve never been the sporty type and this the longest I’ve run a while. Gasping for air, I look towards my wrist watch. 3:50 it reads. It’s going to at least take me another 20 minutes to get to the agency if I head down my normal route but I have to get there by 4:00. Looking around once again to look for any shortcuts I notice a shrouded alleyway. I’ve seen the alleyway many times before when coming from school to the agency and it seems to cut through all the roads and unnecessary routes on my normal route but I never headed down there just because it looks shady. It looks like the type of place you find people doing drug deals. But I have no choice, I have to go down there.

I lug myself unreluctantly to the alleyway. It’s a lot darker down here and makes it a little hard see ahead me, I tread with quickly but cautiously. Heading down the damp alleyway, I can see some light at end, letting a little sigh of relief as know I’m getting closer to the end, I surely thought I would get jumped by someone here but looks like there was nothing worry about. I start walking faster with more confidence in each step. Looks like I won’t have to be lectured this time.

Then a lithe figure appears from the shadows ahead, I’m little scared by the figure’s sudden appearance but I regain composure quickly as it couldn’t be anything bad. Getting closer to the figure, I notice their standing over something, No someone. Unease starts to set in but I push on, getting closer and closer, the person on the floor shows no reaction almost… as if they’re dead. But that can’t be the case, I just have to get closer and check. Pushing on slowly, I notice the lithe figure is a girl wearing a red Serafuku with a white bow on top. A black skirt and red thigh high tights. I can see she is holding on to something, something with a handle, something sharp. A knife. A knife coated with some liquid, which only assume to be blood, dripping from the tip of the blade on to the lifeless body. I look up to her face and I can’t see much other than her bright red eyes, starting right at me with an artic glare, so cold she can rival the winter with how bone chilling it is. Dread starts to flood my mind quick. I instinctively start to back up slowly but surely. This is clearly dangerous.

I didn't make it far as I am stopped dead in my tracks by her low effeminate voice.

“You saw me? Didn’t you?”


	2. A threat

I’m completely frozen, stiff as stone, it’s as if I’m looking right into the eyes of Medusa. Shivers from cold and the girl’s glare are my only movements.

“I’m asking you a question. You saw what I did didn’t you?” 

I could only shake my head in response.

“Don’t lie” she says with a commanding force as she inches closer and closer to me with her drenched knife facing me. Somehow my legs start moving backwards on their own, and before I know I’ve made a 180 and broke into a full sprint but it was futile. Within seconds I was tackled and hit the ground hard. My hat falls, showing my full face. I landed on my hands which caused me to grunt in pain from the impact, the cold temperature only makes it worse as my hands feel sore and are covered with little rocks, some have punctured my skin. Still groaning in pain, the girl stands before me and interrogates me.

“Why did you run? You still haven’t answered my question” The girl spoke with an imposing force yet I couldn’t respond, I tried to speak but all can do was open my mouth, words were stuck in throat. If I said something even slightly wrong, something that would anger her, my life would come to an end. In the end I couldn’t speak. I just sat there looking into the deep into girl’s deep red eyes, terrified.

“You’re not gonna talk? Do you want die?” she threatens as she draws even closer to me with the knife placed at my neck, I can feel the tip of the keen knife just about puncture the skin. This is how going to die?  
But as some miracle of the gods, the sharp blade was drawn from neck.

“Shit, they’re people coming” she says as she looks behind me, I turn my head and see two silhouettes in the shape of people, it seems they can’t see us yet.

She kisses her teeth “Were not done here. Meet me back here at 10:00 PM. If you’re not here on time, you’ll definitely die” Another threat she poses.

I could only nod, fear still plagues me. I watch the girl run off, bloody knife still in hand. I still sit there, my hands around my throat, traumatized.

“I almost died there…” I mutter to myself.

The two figures eventually reach me. One boy and one girl. The boy has some odd purple hair that stands up tall and with a purple jacket over his uniform and beside him is a shorter girl blond girl. They look like they’re from my school as they wear a similar striped black and grey uniform.

Snapping me out my shock, the boy extends a hand out to me “Are you alright?”

“Ah y-yes!” I stutter as I take his hand and he pulls me up.

I dust my uniform once I get back my feet. I pick my hat from the ground, catching a glimpse of wrist watch. 4:20 it shows. I shout

“AH” 

“W-what’s wrong?” The blond girl asks, visibly shaken by sudden shout.

“I’m gonna be late! I gotta go now!” 

“Oh well bye then!” both of them wave.

I wave back at them, already half way back down the alley way. I forgot to tell them about the dead body but it seems to be too late as I already hear their screams. Running further and finally reaching my Uncle’s office.

“Sorry I’m late Uncle!” I apologise.

“Shuichi your 30 minutes late! Do I need to give another lecture on how detectives should never be late again?” he shouts across the office.

“Uncle, I’m sorry for being late but I don’t ne-“

My Uncle interrupts me “No it looks like you need another lecture! Now take a seat and listen well!”

I let out a lengthy audible grown as I take a seat reluctantly. Whoever he starts lecturing, it doesn’t end for a while, the longest I lecture remember was 5 hours and I was almost dead by the end of it. He usually talks about what it means to be a detective but he always ends up trailing off and complaining about work and his clients and how he doesn’t get payed enough. it goes on and on.

Eventually just stopped listening and start to retreat to haven of my mind and thoughts. I start to think of my deadly encounter before. It’s even scary just to think about it but I also a little curious. Why is a girl shorter and smaller than me killing people? What’s her motive to kill? How many has she killed? I start to feel less scared and lot more intrigued, I guess it’s detective will pushing me forward.

“Shuuuichi, are you still listening?” My Uncle speaks with a slur and hiccup follow shortly after his question. It seems he started drinking, he definitely just going to start ranting now.

“Yeah I’m listening”

“Good, I knew you were a good kid. Anyway like I was saying that client I had…” He goes on for hours.

I pull my head up from the desk, it seems I fell asleep. A thick navy blanket covers me, Uncle must of wrapped me in it. Despite all he does, he’s still a very nice person.

“Ah you’re awake Shuichi” Uncle says.

“Yeah, what time is it?”

“9:30pm. You should get home soon otherwise your mum will start to worry”

“Yeah I’ll get going now” I gather my belongings and start to head for the exit, halfway through the door, Uncle stops me.

“Oh yeah Shuichi” he calls out “Be careful, there have been many crimes around lately, especially murder. Heck there was even one just today near us. Just stay safe and head home quickly, I wouldn’t want to lose my favourite nephew.” He flashes a smile.

“Ok thanks Uncle and I will see you tomorrow. Bye” I wave at him and he waves back.

I have no intention of going home yet. I’m way too curious about that killer girl. She’s hiding some sort of truth and even if I’m still in training, I’m still a detective and its a detective’s job to find the truth!

I head back to alleyway and it seems I got here too early. 9:50 my wristwatch reads. Every minute I wait fills me with dread of what might happen to me I start to get cold feet. What if I get killed or kidnapped? I want to run away but I also want to stay, if I uncover this truth, I might be viewed as a true detective not just some trainee. A mix of emotions swell inside me. 

Just then a familiar voice calls out to me.

“I misjudged you. You seem more confident than you look”


	3. Confrontation with a killer

I turn around to face terror itself. That same girl is standing there, still menacing as ever.

Mustering up my courage, I shout “I-I’m not scared of you!”

“Stay that after you stop shivering” An instant response.

She was right, looking down I could see my body shake and shudder, I was still scared, frightened, horrified.

“I’m- I’m just cold” I respond with a lame excuse “Anyway what do you want? Yeah I did see that person you killed but what are you going to do? You aren’t going to kill me are you?” I try to keep a calm composure on the outside but alarms are going off in my mind. Ahhh why did I say that, she obviously gonna kill me. Why did I even come here?

“Heh” the girl lets out a small chuckle, a hint of malice hidden behind it. “I was going to kill you but I guess we both got lucky”

I look in surprise, still weary of the girl though “We both… got lucky?” I question cautiously.

“That’s right Shuichi Saihara, the Ultimate Detective” She empathises my name and title.

I could stand there in shock. It takes me a few seconds to process everything.

“H-How did you know wh-“ I shout at her.

“You don’t need to know where I get my information” She callously interjects, making me flinch.

“Anyway Saihara, the only reason your alive is because of your uncle” She continues.

“My… uncle?

“Sojiro Saihara. He’s is quite the renowned detective, able to solve almost all cases thrown at him. He also has a nephew at Hope’s Peak, under the tile of the Ultimate Detective, which is you”

I gulp. She even knows about Uncle, she probably knows all there is about me.

The girl carries on “Another thing I learnt is that Sojiro treasures his nephew, he claims him to be his pride and joy; always bragging about him whenever he can”

Wow. I never knew Uncle thought so highly of me, I always thought he thought of me as a nuisance but hearing that makes me feel reliev- 

No! That’s not the thing to be thinking about now! I’m confronting a killer right now; I need keep my guard up at all times.

“So how does my uncle connect to not killing me?” I enquire.

“Huh? You’re a detective yet you can’t figure that out” She insults me and narrows her eyes.

She lets out a small sigh “If you can’t figure out I’ll tell you. I don’t have all the time in the world to wait for you to figure it out. If I were to kill you, the beloved nephew of Sojiro Saihara. He would be furious and would be dead set figuring out who killed you. With his masterful detective skills, there’s no doubt he would find me and put me behind bars within a week”

Now that I think about she’s right. Uncle may act like a drunken slob most of the time but when he actually gets to work, he’s a completely different person, he’s a genius professional detective.

“Hmmm, but what’s the catch? I know you’re not going to let me off scot free” I ask.

“You’re right” She flashes an untimely smirk. “I can’t let my first witness get away”

“First witness?” I ponder over those words before reaching a terrifying conclusion.

“Does that mean… you’ve killed before?”

“You’re right again”

My heart’s racing, am I really standing here talking with a serial killer?

“But why are you telling me all this?” I freak-out. “I’m a detective, my uncle is a detective, I could easily turn you in!”

“You could do that but as soon as you tell anyone, you’ll be dead” she threatens.

She’s sending chills down my spine. I can’t do anything but listen to what she wants.

“What do you want then?”

“I’ll have you become my assistant” she responds.

“Assistant? Assistant in what? In killing?” I question frantically “I can’t do that!”

“You will see soon enough” she utters and she turns to leave.

“Wait!” I call out to her but she doesn’t respond, she just walks off. 

At that moment all I could do was think about what she was going to do with me and the thought alone leaves me terrified.


	4. First job

“Shuu-chan! Get up, you’re going to be late!” An effeminate voice calls to me from downstairs, waking me up.

I unreluctantly pull myself up from bed. I look towards my alarm clock; it reads 8:00AM. I slept through the alarm but I kind of expected that. I barely got a wink of sleep. I just couldn’t stop thinking about what that killer girl said, it kept me up.

I finally get out of bed and make my way to the bathroom, walking at a snail’s pace, I reach it. Looking in the mirror above the sink, there are heavy black bags under my eyes, my skin is all dry; I look like a total mess. I try to wash the sleepiness out of eyes and proceed with my morning ritual of hygiene.

I lug myself downstairs and come to see my mum cooking up some French toast and my dad sipping on some coffee while browsing something on his phone.

In response to my groggy footsteps, my mum scolds me “Shuu-chan do you know what time it is? You better hurry if you don’t want to be late!”  
“Yeah ok” I could only give a half-assed response.

My dad looks up from his phone and questions my appearance “Geez, look what the cat dragged in. Did you stay up too late again Shuu?”

“Yeah. I was studying and before I knew it was already so late” I lie.

“Well it’s good you’re taking your studies so seriously but don’t overdo it, okay?”

“Okay”

“Good!” Dad flashes a reassuring smile. “Now get changed, you’re gonna be late” 

“Yeah fine” I smile back, Dad always had an infectious smile, he claims that’s how he charmed Mum when he met her.

I change into black striped uniform, throw my hat on and sling my bag on my shoulder.

“Mum, Dad I’m going!” 

“Have a nice day!” They say in unison.

I walk to school taking my usual route, on guard. That girl is still on my mind. She may have said she wouldn’t kill me but I can’t trust the words of a killer. Killers are unpredictable so who knows what she would do next. I have to keep my guard up at all times.

Surprisingly, the school day went like any other, I attended my classes, talked to friends, ate lunch. Nothing out of the ordinary happened.

Last period just ended and I’m feeling a lot more relaxed now, though the girl is still on the back of my mind. 

Just then someone calls out to me, I flinch thinking who it might be but I realise that it’s a boy’s voice.

“Shuichi is that you?”

I turn to see the same purple haired boy I met yesterday.

“Ahh it’s you, uhh what’s your name?” 

“Huh? I didn’t tell you my name? Well it’s Momota Kaito! We can skip formalities, just call me Kaito” He says while grinning. 

Huh, that’s why he called me by my given name, not that I mind.

“Oh well nice to meet you Kaito”

“So what are doing now?” I continue.

“I was just about go home when I came across you”

“Oh I see”

A short silence is shared between us and Kaito is still showing a wide smile, he seems like a nice enough guy. 

The I come up with a question “About yesterday… did you see anything?” 

“You talking about that body?” His smile disappears and he put one hand on nape. “That gave both me and Kaede a good fright. All though I’ve gotten over it but Kaede stayed home, saying she was scared or something. I’m guessing that’s why we found you on the ground as well”.

“Yeah” I respond followed with an awkward laugh. It’s not every day you talk about dead bodies with someone you just met.

Me and Kaito keep talking. He’s definitely likable guy and he’s quite fun to talk to, he told me all these most likely fake yet fun stories, like how he fought a Yakuza group by himself because they so spilt coffee on his shirt. I learnt that that he’s an ambitious upcoming astronaut and the short blonde girl with him was called Akamatsu Kaede was the ultimate pianist. 

We continue talking before were interrupted a girl.

“Saihara” 

My talk with Kaito was an odd but fun one, it leaves me in a happy mood. I turn around and respond to the girl with pep in my voice. 

“Yeah?” 

The colour drains out of my face, my smile leaves my face and it replaced with a deep frown. It’s that same bloody eye serial killer. In reaction to my dread, the killer shows a small smug smile, as if she is taking some sadistic pleasure in my pain. I open my mouth to speak but Kaito me beats to it.

“Huh? What are you doing here Maki Roll?”

That smug expression quickly turned to annoyed one. I admit, it little satisfying to watch.

“I told you not to call me that Momota” Irritation rang in her voice.

“Well it’s better than calling you Harukawa or just Maki, besides Maki roll is a great nickname, you should cherish it!” Kaito gives her a thumbs up.  
Harukawa wasn’t too happy about Kaito, she just stared daggers at him, however Kaito remained unfliched, rather he just laughs

“Hah! Your fun to talk to Maki Roll!”

Harukawa kisses her teeth “Whatever, let’s go Saihara”

“Oh you know Shuichi?” Kaito presses. “Ahh could it be… you two are going out?”

I look at Harukawa, she is a cute girl but she also a killer and I don’t want any sort of relationship with a killer.

“No” A cold response from.

“Let’s just go” Harukawa says annoyed. She grabs on to my wrist tight enough to crush it, I let a silent whimper of pain. As she is dragging me off I say my goodbyes to Kaito. “I’ll see you later than Kaito”

“See ya!” 

Harukawa is dragging me by the wrist. “Ngh, I can walk myself”

She lets go and my wrist is bit sore from her holding it, there is also a red mark that is the same shape of her around my wrist, she gripped really tight.

“Uhh so your name is Harukawa Maki?” I say as I grab my wrist, trying to sooth the remaining pain. 

“Yeah what of it?” Harukawa spoke with annoyance in her voice. I’m guessing she’s annoyed that Kaito outed her name in front of me. 

“You know Kaito as well?” 

“Yeah I know that bumbling idiot, he approached me first and keeps coming back to me even when I tell him to piss off. He’s even given me a stupid nickname”

“I see” It is refreshing to see such a fearful figure get annoyed at something, I let out a small chuckle at the thought of it. Harukawa stares at me as she’s "saying what are laughing at?"

Then I realise I’m being way too friendly with a god damn killer. I make attempt to glare at her but I don’t think it is very effective.

Instead of glaring back, Harukawa just let’s out a sigh “I told you I’m not going kill you. So why are you still on the defensive?”

“I can’t trust a killer” I try to keep up my glare but it’s a losing battle. “Especially when my life is on the line”

She’s lets out a heavier sigh “If it makes you feel any better, I don’t kill for the satisfaction, I have my own reasons. So don’t worry I’m not going to kill you” Her face switches to an unexpected sullen expression. Is she trying to comfort me? Maybe I could let down my guard a little, get some more information out of her if she really isn’t going to kill me. 

“Harukaw-“

“Just call me Maki, it’s easier” She interrupts.

I never really called a girl by her first name so it’s a little embarrassing to hear that.

“M-Maki” I say with a tinge of pink on my cheeks. “What are you going to do with me now? You’re not going to have me… kill?”

“A weakling like you couldn’t even kill a fly” 

“Hey I’m not that weak!” I shout, anger present in my voice. 

Sure I may not be a strong person but I’m definitely not weak, I’m average at most, but then again it’s nothing be proud of. Why am I even trying to debate my strength with a killer?

Maki ignores my shout “Anyways, I didn’t enlist you for your body, rather your brains”

“You want me to use my skills as a detective? I’m still in training, what use would I be?”

Maki groans “You may say that Saihara but you’re only downplaying your skills as a detective. I’m pretty sure everyone remembers that rampant serial killer you caught a year ago, not to mention, you have caught many culprits of theft, assault and vandalism that had occurred in our school. You should have more confidence in yourself” 

Am I really getting a pep talk from a killer? But regardless of who she is, I guess she’s right, maybe I should try to be a little more confident in myself.

“Anyway, your job is to find out about this guy” She pulls out a photo out her skirt pocket and hands over to me.

The photo is of a rather large quiff-haired moustached man; he’s wearing a pretty ugly pink suit with some usual suit shoes. The caption below the picture reads ‘Yamaoka Torajiro’ 

“What do want me to find out about this guy?” I question.

“Anything you can, where he usually visits, who he’s usually with etc.”

That’s gonna be little hard to find out. 

“Come to the same alleyway, same time to tell me about your findings on this man” she continues.

I have a time limit as well? I let small groan, small enough so Maki can’t hear my disappointment.

“I’m guessing you’re going to kill this man aren’t you?” I hope that’s not the case but it most probably is.

“What else would an assassin do?” Maki replies.

“Wait, you’re an assassin? Does that mean you work under an organisation?” 

“You don’t need to know that” Maki says sternly, as if she’s telling me to back off.

From her reaction, I’m guessing she is a part of an assassin organisation, and this man is her given target. I want to know more but I shouldn’t press on that topic if I don’t want to get hurt. 

“Now that you know what you’re doing, you should get going and start your research. And if you don’t come to our meeting with sufficient information… Well you know what will happen” Maki says threateningly.

Once again she turns her back to me and I watch her walk off. A detective like me working together with an assassin is something I thought you would only see in books and movies. Anyway I’ve got a lot work ahead of me. I gotta call Uncle to postpone our training.


	5. Preparation

I unlock my front door and enter my house.

“Shuu-chan? You not going to your Uncle’s?” Mum shouts from the kitchen.

“Yeah I’ve got quite a bit of homework so I can’t go” I lie. 

I rush upstairs to my room and shut the door tight. I can’t really let my parent find out about this and get involved. I walk over to my computer and plop myself down on the chair. I groan as I think back on what I have to do.

Why do I have to do this? How did I even get involved?

Letting out a lengthy sigh I just get to work. If I don’t, bad things may happen. 

And with that I start working, clacking away at the keyboard…  
\---  
With an exhausted groan, I push away from my desk on my wheelie chair. My arms droop to my side, head falling back onto the chair and I shut my eyes tight and relax.

After those few minutes of rest, I check the computer clock, 9:00 it reads. Have I really been researching for 5 hours?

Although I would say that research was pretty interesting and was surprisingly easy to find. Not only did I find about his whereabouts and his contacts; I found more about who he is what he is, how he acts etc… Thinking back on what I found I shudder a little, being able to find all this information at the touch of few keys is a little scary. I wonder how much information there is about me. I wonder how much information there is about… Maki. 

Raising my arms to the dead to sloppily press the keyboard keys, I enter ‘Harukawa Maki’ into the search bar. 

But nothing about girl appears about the girl I know. I frown, I wanted to know more about her so maybe it could help me get out of my predicament. Seems like I have to rely on myself and my skills as detective to find out more about her but I’m not too confident about it. 

With enough rest, I decide to get ready to go, wouldn’t want to be late for an assassin.

I print out my 5 page research on Yamaoka Torajiro, I think I typed up too much, though I would be pretty sad if she ended up using only a bit of the gruelling research I spent so much time on.

With everything ready, I head downstairs to the front door.

“Shuu-chan, where are you going?” Mum demandingly asks me. She appears behind me.

“Uhh, going to meet a friend” I fib.

“At this time? She questions “Do you know what time it is?”

Then Dad speaks up as he appears behind Mum “Leave him be, he's old enough to know not to get into trouble. He's a smart kid. Plus he’s probably meeting a girl or something” Dad grins at me. He isn’t wrong but it’s not exactly what he thinks. 

“Hmmmm” Mum is contemplating, worry visible on her face. “Fine but be safe, don’t hang out with the wrong people” Mum is reluctant to let me go.

“I’ll be fine Mum; I’m not meeting anyone dangerous” I lie again. I’ve been lying a lot more lately and I’m not really proud having do it but I have no choice.  
Opening the door, I walk and wave to my parents “Bye!” They wave back. It’s time to head over to Maki.

Walking through the moon-lit town, I would usually be scared of criminals roaming the streets, wanting to mug me or assault me, I would be paranoid and cautious but I feel unusually calm, I guess meeting and conversing with an actual killer has got built me a little courage I guess. No that stupid. A killer giving me confidence? What am I even thinking? And I hate that I’m fine with meeting with a killer in the first place, let alone helping them, this is definitely some I should be worried about yet I’m composed. I want to know more about Maki as an assassin her motives, her ways of murder, her supposed organisation and why she wants my help? I don’t know if it’s normal for a detective to be interested in killers like this or I’m just going crazy. Either way, there’s not much I could do but cooperate.

I reach the same dark alley and wait for Maki, my wrist watch reads 9:50 so I have to wait ten minutes.

5 minutes in and I realise just how cold it is, It’s ungodly cold and I’m shivering to death. I huddle up my shoulder and arms to preserve what warmth I have. I should of brought a coat. 

10 minutes in I think I have icicles growing on me. I may die of hypothermia here.

“Saihara” There is that familiar voice. I turn around to face Maki. She’s still wearing that same uniform black skirt and blood red serafuku. I have no idea how she not freezing in her attire. 

“Have done what I said?” Maki questions, unflinching from the cold. 

“Y-y-yeah” I utter, teeth chattering.

Grabbing the papers out my bag, I hand them over to Maki. Her hand brushes mine. Her hands are silky smooth yet to contrast the smoothness was a few calluses along her hand and fingers, probably from gripping weapons. Her hands are unexpectedly warm, I had the urge to just grab her hands and envelop them in mine just to slightly warm up my cold dead hands but that is something I definitely shouldn’t do that to a girl I just met, especially Maki.

She flips through my research only to take the first, skimming through it only to pull out the first page and hand the rest back to me.

“What?” I look at her, confused. 

“Don’t need the rest” she responds.

I let out an audible groan, I kind of knew she wasn’t going to use it all and that I wasted most of my getting that research but it still disappoints me that she doesn’t even appreciate my work.

Grumbling, I stuff the rest of my research back in my bag.

“Come on let’s go” Maki says as she finishes reading the page.

“Huh? Go where?”

“To the target of course. Jeez, you really are slow for a detective”

Her insults are annoying but I can’t really retaliate. I can only grumble. 

“Let’s get going, we can’t waste any more time” Maki turns her back and walks off, this time I follow her. She’s a pretty fast-walker and its kind of hard to keep up.  
We’re pacing through bright-lighted town, heading into the red light district. This part of the town is heavily lit by large neon signs advertising different shops and businesses, nightclubs, bars, hostess clubs and love hotels. I’ve never been to the red light district because I have no business here. Actually, it’s rather embarrassing just being here. They have a lot of provocative posters and pictures across the walls of the buildings, my cheeks start to burn red and I don’t really know where to stare other than at the ground.

“Wahh” 

Maki suddenly pulls me aside into a slim dark alley, the two of us barely fit in it.

“We’re at the hostess club you listed” Maki points at the hostess club. We’re both peering around the corner of alley. 

She’s right, ‘Titty Typhoon’ it read in bright pink neon lights, so bright it hurts to look at. Titty Typhoon was one of the hostess clubs I looked up.

“We just have wait for the target to come out”

“Huh?!” I look at Maki surprised. “It’s so cold outside though, are you trying to kill me?”

Maki let’s out a short giggle along with a grin “If I wanted to kill you, I would have killed you long before”

This is the first time I’ve seen Maki express proper emotion; she would look like a normal school girl if someone saw her like this without knowing her, I admit she looks a little cute as well but that joke was in pretty bad taste so I could only feign an awkward smile accompanied with an awkward laugh in response.  
\-----  
My wrist watch reads 11:15 PM, we’ve been at this same alleyway for 45 minutes. I’m still freezing, my hands are completely numb and I can’t feel anything.

“Hey Maki, how long are we going to be here?” I ask as huddle myself, trying preserve warmth.

“Until the target comes out”

I let another groan slip out my mouth, why do I even have to be with her now anyway?

Trying to keep up the conversation, I question Maki “Hey, how come you’re not cold? I’m freezing here”

“I’m used to the cold” 

“What? How can be used to this cold temperature? You’re barely wearing anything”

“Shut up and stop questioning me” Maki shuts me up.

Even though i kind of expected her to shut me up if i asked herself, it still shook me. She definitely an intimidating person. Though she isn’t much of a talker and she seems to dislike talking about herself, hmm. I don’t know if I should press on it. She’s definitely hiding a lot.

Maki suddenly pulls on my shirt forcefully, almost causing me to fall over to notify of me her target while pointing at him.

“That’s him” She points at a large ugly suited man, same to the picture. He’s got his arm around a gaudy looking girl.

“Uhh so what are we going to do now?”

“We’re going to tail the target and when the opportunity is right, I’ll kill him” Maki says in a coarse tone.

My face grows pale, the cold made forget why we were here but we’re here for Maki to kill a man. I still don’t know how I feel about this, should I stop her from killing? But what would that provide me with? She may kill me instead if I got in her way. That man might be a hardened criminal and Maki killing him could be considered cleaning up the trash. Not mention if she does kill him, I would be able to witness an actual murder, I’ve always wanted to see how a planned killing actually carries out.  
I shake my head as if trying to get those thoughts out of head. Killing isn’t good no matter who it is. But I can’t really stop Maki now. 

“Come one what are you waiting for?” She’s standing before me outside the alley, the bright neon behind her contrasts and accentuates her deep scarlet eyes and she looks… pretty 

Cheeks tinted with slight red I shake my head violently once again with the same intent. I just got to stop thinking for now. 

I nod to Maki and she begins to walk off in the direction of Yamaoka Torajiro and I follow.

I think I might be going crazy.


End file.
